Our People, Your Adventure

Bodyboarding Adventures™ is Southern California’s only dedicated bodyboarding school with a mission to bring more people into the sport of bodyboarding. Founded by two Orange County locals, Bodyboarding Adventures™ offers summer camps and private lessons through the City of San Clemente Recreation Division, which are open to kids 6 and up, as well as adults who are looking to improve their skills.

We have also partnered with some of the most famous bodyboarders in the world to ensure that our students get the best experience and instruction available. All of our instructors are CPR and First Aid-certified, and we offer a student to instructor ratio of 4:1 so parents can trust that their kids will stay safe while enjoying a fun-filled week making new friends and learning how to catch waves.

Join The Team

If you are a bodyboarder, love working with kids and you’re interested in becoming a Bodyboarding Adventures™ instructor for our summer camps or private lessons, we’d love to hear from you! Please fill out the form and we’ll be in touch.

Joe Grodzen | Lead Instructor

Joe Grodzen has been bodyboarding for more than 25 years. He first fell in love with the sport in the mid 1980’s when he witnessed a pro tour event in his hometown of San Clemente and saw the bodyboarding lifestyle as something he wanted take part in for the rest of his life. Over the next 20 years, Joe won multiple California state bodyboarding titles, went on countless international team travel trips, and became the highest ranked California-based international competitor for the better part of the 2000’s. In the 2007 World Surfing Games he served as an Assistant Coach for the silver medal team and recently placed 7th in the APB World Tour Drop Knee competition at the Pipeline in Hawaii. For the past 10 years, Joe has been teaching and coaching in Southern California and is passionate about helping up and coming surfers and bodyboarders flourish in the sport they share a love for.

Chris Richards | Lead Instructor

Chris Richards’ passion for bodyboarding has given him a greater love for life. He was immediately drawn to the sport at age 15 after a friend showed him the bodyboarding video, "The Inside." Ever since then, his love for the sport and the ocean grew deeper and deeper. Growing up, he watched a lot of people get in trouble and hang out with the wrong crowd. But no matter what was going on in his life, Chris had bodyboarding. Bodyboarding has given him a greater respect for life and gratitude towards living a clean, healthy, active lifestyle. With the amazing opportunities that he has been given, he is motivated by "paying it forward" and sharing his love and passion for the sport with younger generations.

Claire Stansbury | Beach Activities Director

Originally from the East Coast, Claire moved to Southern California in 2015. She has more than 8 years of experience working with kids, including serving as a volleyball coach at a summer camp in Virginia. She loves being able to engage kids in new activities and help them learn new skills. Claire is pumped to join the Bodyboarding Adventure team this summer because it gives her an excuse to be at the beach everyday, doing what she loves!

Max Coletto | Instructor

Max Coletto hails from Laguna Niguel and has been bodyboarding since the age of 12. He was instantly inspired to go out and learn to bodyboard by watching Jeff Hubbard videos on YouTube as a kid. In addition to being a member of his high school varsity surf team for 4 years, he also worked at 662 bodyboard shop in Dana Point. Max credits bodyboarding for changing his life for the better. The friends he has made, the skills he has learned, and the amazing experiences he has had while bodyboarding have all made a hugely positive impact in his life. He’s very excited to share his passion for bodyboarding with a younger generation in hopes of introducing them to a lifelong interest in not only bodyboarding, but also in caring for the ocean and our planet.

Taylor Scott | Instructor

Taylor has been bodyboarding for as long as he can remember – even before he knew what the sport was all about! As he started to grow as a person, his bodyboarding skills grew with him, and now he is always looking to get better at the sport that he has so much love for. He is passionately dedicated to seeing the sport grow here in California and passing his knowledge along to the kids of the next generation. As part of the Bodyboarding Adventures team, Taylor is most excited about watching their skills grow and giving them the gift of a life-long love for bodyboarding.

Iran Cortes-Reyes | Instructor

Iran first learned how to bodyboard 10 years ago at T-Street in San Clemente. A summer pastime soon turned into a passion and love for the ocean, and now Iran is stoked to be a part of the Bodyboarding Adventures team. He counts Zicatela in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico as his favorite wave and his favorite trick is a reverse back spin.

Steve Barnes | Co-Founder & CEO

Steve’s love of bodyboarding began on a warm summer day in Honolulu where he hopped on “Auntie’s” bus and ventured out to famous Makapu’u beach. After spending a few hours catching waves, he was hooked. Later that week, he picked up an issue of Bodyboarding Magazine, cast his eyes across a 2-page photo spread of Salt Creek Beach here in Dana Point, and vowed to himself he would live close enough to go there every day. Eight years later, having married the love of his life and being blessed with his son, Brayden, his new family moved to Ladera Ranch where his vision for a bodyboarding company started to take shape. After countless hours of research, late night brainstorming sessions with his wife, and connecting with some of the sport’s greatest athletes, he decided to follow his passion and created Bodyboarding Adventures™ with a mission to bring more people into the sport of bodyboarding.

Emily Barnes | Co-Founder & CMO

Emily’s first experience with bodyboarding was on the beaches of Orange County as a young girl growing up in the suburban community of La Verne. Back then, it was known as “boogie” boarding, but to Emily and her friends it was the best way to beat the heat in the San Gabriel Valley. As she got older, went to college and started her career in PR, she didn’t see much of the ocean until she met Steve. In the early days of their relationship, they could be found traveling to beaches all over Southern California in search of the perfect wave. And when she and Steve settled into their new home in Ladera Ranch, the ideas just kept flowing for a bodyboarding-related business in South Orange County. Emily and Steve decided that her 20+ years of marketing experience together with his passion and knowledge of the sport would make a winning combination – and that’s how Bodyboarding Adventures™ was born.

Jay Reale | Strategic Advisor

Jay began bodyboarding full-time in 1980 at the age of 16, and won his first major amateur title at the 1982 Eastern Surfing Championships Bodyboarding division. Following his college graduation, he moved to California in 1987 becoming the east coast's first-ever pro bodyboarder and went on to compete as a full-time professional for 12 years. During that time, he competed on the U.S. Pro Bodyboarding Tour, the GOB World Tour, and the Australian Pro Tour. He also amassed dozens of awards, was ranked in the top 5 in the world, and gained a reputation as an ambassador for the sport of bodyboarding. Following his pro career, he returned to amateur competition to become the 2003 U.S. Senior Bodyboarding Champion at the age of 39. Jay has also served as a commentator for ESPN and FOX Sports, appeared on more than 15 magazine covers all over the world, and has been featured in hundreds of posters, articles and photos. In 1999, Jay and his wife, Vicki, started eBodyboarding.com, which has grown to become the largest internet bodyboarding retailer in the world. As a strategic advisor to Bodyboarding Adventures™, Jay provides unmatched insight, and will offer a limited amount of private lessons during the summer months.

Vicki Reale | Strategic Advisor

Vicki, originally from Port Macquarie, Australia, began her pro career in the winter of 1991 and quickly caught the eye of major sponsors, traveling all over the world to participate in major competitions and magazine photos shoots. As the lone Aussie female on the Global Organization of Bodyboarders World Tour, she consistently found herself in the Women’s Top 10 for several years. In 1998, she became the first Australian Women's Pro Champ, and over the course of her pro career, she won the women's World FlowRider Bodyboarding Championship numerous times. Her accolades include being the first female bodyboarder ever on the cover of Australia's Riptide Magazine, topping the BodyBoarding Magazine and Australian Bodyboarder Readers' Polls numerous times and has appeared in dozens of bodyboard-related publications, women's sports magazines, newspapers, and television shows all over the world. At Bodyboarding Adventures™, Vicki serves as a strategic advisor, providing invaluable perspective, and will offer a limited amount of private lessons during the summer months.